Nations, North Korea agree to nuclear deal

Will close reactor for $400 million in oil, food aid

Will close reactor for $400 million in oil, food aid

April 03, 2007|By Bay Fang and Evan Osnos, Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON - Four months after North Korea defied the world by testing a nuclear device, its pledge Tuesday to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for $400 million in aid leaves unresolved how it would abandon the rest of its nuclear facilities, weapons and atomic fuel stockpiles. The deal, announced in a joint statement by the U.S. and four other nations, does not immediately require Kim Jong Il's regime to give up any existing nuclear bombs but lays out a first deadline for key steps toward disarmament and normalized diplomatic relations. - orth Korea pledged to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and permit international atomic inspectors to return to the country within 60 days. In turn, it will receive 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent "emergency assistance," a down payment on a promised million tons of oil or equivalent aid when it ultimately disarms. President Bush welcomed the nuclear deal, a rare foreign policy victory at a time when the United States faces severe difficulties in Iraq and elsewhere. But administration officials also tempered expectations as some critics noted that the White House previously criticized such overtures to a country the president once branded part of "the axis of evil." "This is still the first quarter," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "There is still a lot of time to go on the clock. But the six parties have now taken a promising step in the right direction." Relies on North Korea: The fate of the deal may rest on whether North Korea is fundamentally prepared to renounce nuclear arms after years of delays and defiance. Pyongyang has reneged on previous agreements, and has been accused of developing its uranium-based weapons program even while freezing a plutonium-based one. In fact, the announcement of the deal by North Korea's official news agency said merely that the country was receiving 1 million tons of oil for a "temporary suspension" of its nuclear facilities - without mentioning the full disarmament for which the agreement calls. Meeting that 60-day deadline will be a key benchmark of North Korea's commitment to the process, but it will take more time to determine whether the communist nation is prepared to see the process to conclusion, say veterans of American and multilateral negotiations with the North Koreans. The plan drew harsh criticism from John Bolton, who until December was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Bolton said the agreement ran counter to the Bush administration's counter-proliferation policy of not rewarding bad behavior. "It's a bad, disappointing deal, and the best thing you can say about it is that it will probably fall apart," Bolton said in an interview. "The only reason they were back at the negotiating table was because of the pressure we put on them through financial sanctions. Now we're about to release that pressure." Basic agreement: The terms of the deal require North Korea to provide a full declaration of all harvested plutonium from spent nuclear fuel rods, which is estimated to be enough to have produced at least six nuclear weapons. Mike Green, former senior director for Asian affairs on the Bush administration's National Security Council and one who has participated in the North Korean negotiations, said, "We won't really know if the North Koreans have changed their basic stance and are really serious about giving up their nuclear program" until we see what they do with the harvested plutonium. In later phases, a timeline will be set for full disabling of all nuclear facilities in the country, at which time the 1 million tons of oil or equivalent aid will be handed to the North Koreans. Green said it will cost South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the U.S. about $80 million apiece. The tentative agreement awaits the approval of the administrations of all nations involved. The U.S. contribution to fuel shipments must be approved by Congress, which could bring challenges from both Democrats and Republicans. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the plan as being too little, too late. "North Korea's program is much more dangerous to us now than it was in 2002, when President Bush rejected virtually the same deal he is now embracing," he said. The deal effectively restarts a process that had been nearing collapse since September 2005, when the six parties agreed that North Korea would give up nuclear arms in exchange for energy and security guarantees. Within hours of that announcement, North Korean spokesmen were downplaying the terms to domestic audiences, and over the months that followed, the North test-fired missiles and eventually conducted its first atomic test Oct. 9. International cooperation: Bush said the latest agreement underscores the power of international cooperation. "These talks represent the best opportunity to use diplomacy to address North Korea's nuclear programs," Bush said in a written statement. To strike the deal, the Bush administration broke with its longstanding opposition to providing aid to the North Koreans as an incentive for promises of denuclearization. Bush had previously criticized a similar deal struck by former President Bill Clinton's administration. White House press secretary Tony Snow said the current agreement differs from the Clinton-era deal because it relies on verifiable "performance benchmarks," and because other major powers have signed on to the deal. To be sure, analysts say the deal was unlikely to have been reached without heavy intervention by China, which has emerged as a key broker in dealings with North Korea. After years of dutifully supporting its erratic neighbor and ally, China changed course last summer after Kim's regime ignored China's warnings not to conduct missile tests. Beijing has since pressured its neighbor by reducing vital oil shipments and expressing rare public discontent. Chicago Tribune national correspondent Mark Silva contributed to this report from Washington. Bay Fang reported from Washington and Evan Osnos from Bangkok.